The Excedia Group have been very lucky to be able to recruit two new high-calibre, quality employees to join our team. Sue and Lisa are both intelligent, amenable and eager - and we plan to invest in them for the future.
As a result I am so enthused as to how the future will unfold for our small but growing company. However, the majority of trainers, training companies and professional service firms would have overlooked the opportunity to obtain such high talent as Sue & Lisa.
Why you ask me?
Quite plainly, Sue and Lisa are not looking for a traditional 9-5 Monday to Friday role. The main reason for the appeal of joining Excedia was the desire to be a working mother and to be there for their children, as well as feeling mentally challenged and providing a worthy role as part of a team. I am also a working mother and am fully aware that priorities are bound to change when children join the clan - however the strong sense of wanting and needing to have a meaningful career outside of having a family may not.
Unfortunately I have witnessed this over and over where trainers lose highly experienced quality female members of the team, due to refusing to consider or embrace flexible working for their members of staff. The main reason seems to be due to expecting instant contact with their service provider, for example all day every day. I don't agree this is necessary or true - however as its the way we've traditionally worked and always done things then we wouldn't think about attracting all the benefits that flexible working can bring.
Holding onto highly qualified enthused staff is only the tip of the iceberg. As you can imagine I am incredibly passionate about how droves of talent leave their professions. But, I'll hold my tongue...
If you want to fill your next vacant position with highly enthusiastic, loyal and highly skilled talent then be sure to consider ways to attract candidates who prefer not to be in the office between 9-6 Monday to Friday. Think outside of the box - could the role be carried out by a job share? Is it necessary for them to be in the office every day? Is it possible for their workload to be flexed around school holiday periods?
It's definitely the best thing we ever did.
